A moist, classic Red Velvet Cake!! Made from scratch, and surprisingly easy when a few specific, simple steps are followed. This iconic cake has a soft “velvet” texture, just like what you get from the best top end fine bakeries, and is topped with soft, cream cheese frosting.
After Red Velvet Cupcakes? Here they are! UK readers: Please read note 7.
Red Velvet Cake recipe – tried and tested favourite!
This Red Velvet Cake has been taste tested and given a big thumbs up by many people because it’s a rather large cake and I’ve made it 5 times in the last two weeks.
“FIVE TIMES??!!”, I hear you exclaim (out loud or in your head). “You’re MAD!!”
If getting this cake exactly to my taste, as close as I can get it to the cakes you get from posh bakeries, and ensuring it works using both US and metric (i.e. rest of the world!!) measures means that I’m a mad baker, I’ll take that title. 😉
Besides, I’m really enjoying baking at the moment. There is something so satisfying about making something as pretty as Red Velvet Cake.
To tell you the honest truth, the reason I made it so many times in recent weeks is because my original recipe got a “so-so” response from the two toughest taste-testers I know: my mother and brother.
“The sponge is zara-zara”, my mother declared on first bite.
What the….?? Zara-zara? What on earth does that mean??
“Zara-zara” means “rough” in Japanese. The Japanese language has a handful of words which sound like what it means. “Zara-zara” being a perfect example. Usually it cracks me up. Not that day.
I gasped, indignant, and grabbed a spoon to shovel a bite into my mouth, ready to argue. And I realised – she was right. It was not as velvety as it could be. As it should be.
NOT HAPPY.
So I improved it. 🙂
What is Red Velvet Cake?
Red Velvet Cake is not just a chocolate cake with red food colouring added. This cake is softer than most, “velvet-like”, and the chocolate taste is actually quite mild. It’s more like a cross between a vanilla and chocolate cake with a very subtle tang from buttermilk. And it is generously smothered in a fluffy cream cheese frosting.
It’s wildly popular in America and there’s a cult following in Australia. Give it a few years, it will become a firm favourite soon!
The cake tastes buttery and moist, because it has butter in it for flavour, and oil for moisture. Yes, you need both, I promise you. It is not the same if you use only one of them.
Why should you use THIS Red Velvet Cake!
There are 3 more specific things about this recipe which might be a bit different to other Red Velvet recipes you have seen, but there’s a reason for it.
1. Cake flour – it’s a must! It’s key to achieving that soft silky sponge, just like what you get from posh bakeries. However, if you really can’t find it, please see the notes for a substitute;
2. Only 2 eggs – I’ve seen some recipes call for up to 5 eggs. I only use 2. It’s enough to hold the cake together just fine – any more than 2, and find the cake begins to start tasting “eggy”; and
3. Buttermilk – For almost every other baking recipe that I make using buttermilk, I say that you can substitute with lemon juice + milk which, when left for 5 minutes, curdles to have the same effect as using buttermilk. Not for this recipe – sorry! It is just not the same – part of the reason mine was “zara zara”. 😂
Oh, and one more rule. There is no substitute for Philadelphia Cream Cheese for the frosting. I’ve tried better value store-brand cream cheese before. It is never the same. Promise. ❤
I bake the layers in 2 separate tins, but if you don’t have two tins, you can make one big one and cut the cake in half. And to make the layers nice and neat, I cut the dome top off.
I like to crumble the off cuts and use it to decorate the cake. I think it looks pretty, don’t you? But that’s purely optional!
I promise you, there is nothing tricky about this cake. All you have to do is ensure you measure the ingredients properly, rather than just eye-balling it. 😉 As long as you do that, it’s actually easy to make, no more difficult than an ordinary sponge cake.
Putting aside fiddly fancy decorated cakes, Red Velvet Cake is surely one of the most striking and stunning cakes around. If you’ve never tried it before, you’re in for a real treat! – Nagi x
Red Velvet Cake
Watch how to make it
How to make Red Velvet Cake – quick tutorial video! Red Velvet Cake for UK readers – please ensure you read Notes 7 and 9.
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Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups (400 g) plain cake flour (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp (10 g) cocoa powder , unsweetened
- 1 tsp (5 g) baking soda / bi-carb soda , NOT baking powder (Note 2)
- Pinch of salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter , softened (1 US stick)
- 1 1/2 cups (330 g) caster / superfine white sugar (Note 3a)
- 2 eggs , at room temperature (around 2 oz / 60g each)
- 1 cup (250ml) vegetable oil
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (or essence)
- 1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk , at room temperature (Note 4)
- 2 1/2 tbsp red food colouring liquid (UK: use Gel, Note 7)
Frosting (Note 10)
- 14 oz (400 g) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, block , softened but not too soft (UK see Note 9)
- 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter , softened (but not too soft)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups (450 g) soft icing sugar / powdered sugar sifted (Note 3b)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (all oven types). Butter 2 x 21cm / 8″ round cake pans (sides and base) and dust with cocoa powder.
- Sift the Dry Ingredients and whisk to combine in a bowl.
- Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with electric beater or in stand mixer until smooth and well combined (use paddle attachment if using stand mixer).
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between to combine. At first it will look curdle – keep beating until it’s smooth.
- Add vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, buttermilk and red food colouring. Beat until combined and smooth (Note 5).
- Add Dry Ingredients. Beat until just combined – some small lumps is ok, that’s better than over mixing.
- Divide batter between cake pans. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes on the same shelf, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Note 6)
- Rest for 10 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool.
Frosting
- Beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla for 3 minutes (this makes it really smooth and changes from yellow to almost white). Add icing sugar and beat for 2 minutes or until frosting is light and fluffy to your taste. If your frosting seems too runny (depends on quality of cream cheese/ if the cream cheese was too soft), just add more icing sugar.
Frost Cake
- Cut the top off the cake using a serrated knife (to make the layers neat).
- Spread one cake with 1 1/2 cups of frosting. Top with the other cake. Spread top and sides with remaining frosting.
- Optional: Crumble offcuts and use to decorate the top rim and base of the cake.
Recipe Notes:
Let them eat cake! 10 more classic cakes
.Life of Dozer
This is how he starts every day: assessing the surf. 😉
Many many thanks for this recipe.. tried so many of them before with no luck.. this perfectly worked! Lots of love from Kenya.
Hey Nagi, the cake looks amazing! I would like to add liquor to this one, like Kahlua or Baileys. Do you know if the other ingredients will have to change a bit? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Nina, I haven’t tried sorry – but adding more liquid will affect the texture of the cake and it’s something I’d need to test sorry! N x
Amazing! Thank you for sharing with us Nagi <3
Hi Nagi, I can’t seem to find your cupcake version of this and also the blueberry cupcake version. Have you taken them off?
Hello just baking the cake now, hoping it’s as nice as your other sponges I’ve made. Can I freeze the red velvet sponge ? Thank you
Hi Nagi, I wanted to use your recipe for a larger sized cake using s 30cm square cake it. Would I double the ingredients?
This is 200x better than the Hummingbird versions which I thought couldn’t be beaten. Fabulous cake. Just to say that your website has become my ‘go to’ because the recipes are not only great but SO reliable. Bravo
Wahoo, thanks so much Kerry!! N x
I need to make a gluten free cake. How do you think this would taste using gluten free flour instead of the plain flour substitute?
Hi Tara, it will definitely affect the texture but I haven’t tried to be honest. I’d love to know if you give it a go! N x
I’ve made a red velvet cake before and it had a bitter taste what may be the reason
Hi Abby, without knowing what recipe you used, if it’s bitter it could be the amount of bi carb or baking powder that’s in it causing it to have a bitter taste. – N x
I’ve used this recipe with lactose free ingredients (in my case Liddles lactose free cream cheese and milk to make the butter milk, and nuttlex) and it turned out amazing! So happy I can participate in such a yummy dessert that all my non lactose intolerant peeps can also enjoy!!
That’s great to hear Dom, thanks so much for letting me know! N x
– Can I use a 10″ pan and bake as a single cake ?
– Can I use ACV to curdle the milk for buttermilk ? Also, I’m mixing powdered milk to become creamy and then adding ACV.
– Can I use red velvet powder ?
Hi Nagi! I’m planning to make this cake this weekend but I don’t hand bicarbonate of soda or white vinegar. Will the cake still work without it?
Also I would like to make 3 layers so shall I move the arrow up to 18 slices to get 3 layers? Thank you xx
Hi Lanaa, using a 10″ pan will result in a thinner cake, see the recipe notes for using one pan – you’ll just need to keep and eye on it. I haven’t tried using powdered milk, but apple cider vinegar is fine to use. The red velvet powder – is that a colour powder? N x
Pardon the late response. Just getting the hang of how to locate my comments.
Yes, the red velvet powder is a food colouring powder. I want to use 1tsp of red velvet liquid food colour in addition.
I’ve gotten the right pan now, however no buttermilk. So, thinking of mixing powdered milk into thick liquid and adding ACV.
Is this alright ?
I recently discovered your treasure trove of fool proof recipes and this one turned out as amazing as all others. It is amusing when bloggers with a considerable following post recipes that are exact replicas of others online but where you are concerned I can always be sure you’ve tested and tweaked the recipe multiple times. One thing though, while being the moss popular cream cheese brand, Philadelphia is by no means the best. I prefer the taste of kiri blocks abd have had great success with substituting them for Philadelphia in recipes.
Hi Nagi!
I’ve made this cake twice this week and love it! Beautiful texture. Is there a way to stop the cake from absorbing the cream cheese icing? My cake has absorbed nearly all of it by the morning and I’d like the icing to remain thick and fluffy rather than disappear. Is there a trick for this?
I’m wondering if your cake was not completely cooled down when you iced it, causing the icing to melt slightly.
Hi Anita, the cake shouldn’t absorb the icing at all – it should look just like you’ve iced it the next day. Is your icing thin? N x
Hi,
This recipe sounds gorgeous. I never bake but am going to make it for my daughters 22nd birthday. I have 2 round 20cm tins but they’re not very deep (3cm) and do not have removable bottoms. Will these be ok/are they deep enough?
Many thanks
Actually they’re 3.5cm deep. Otherwise my mum has 2 X deep 18cm(7inch) or my local shop has 2 X deep 24cm (9.4″)
Out if the 3 what would be best?
Thank you
😔 used this recipe. Only to find my red gel didn’t work so now have 36 cupcakes that don’t look quite brown or red. Used red extra by sugarflair
Hi Emma, as it’s a concentrate paste it should definitely have turned them red – could your paste be out of date? How much did you use? N x
Made this cake for my son’s 21st family champagne and cake party and it was universally a hit with young and old. The texture is really soft and moist and, with the cream cheese icing, tastes delicious. No cream required! The only little issue I had was that the cocoa coating on the pans made the cake look burnt on the bottom (it wasn’t) which since the whole cake is then covered in icing is not an issue but made me a bit nervous it was going to taste burnt (it didn’t). My pans are dark-coloured non-stick tin so that might be why. Next time I might try covering the bottom with baking paper and see if cocoa does not brown as much. But definitely not a big enough issue to stop me making it again.
Hi Nagi, what is the size of the pan you used? I want to make this using a 9X13 pan (a rectangle rather than a circle), and I’m trying to figure out the scaling factor for all the ingredients. Thanks!
Hi Kirsten – in step 1 it noted the 2 x 8″ pans that I’ve used. 🙂 N x
Hi is this recipe suitable for cupcakes?
Hi Ailish, I’m currently working on a recipe for red velvet cupcakes – stay tuned! N x
Hi Nagi, what’s the difference between your rv cake and cupcakes? How do these recipes compare in texture and lightness compared to your ‘best vanilla cake’?
I just made this cake today and WOW…by far the best recipe! The cake is deliciously moist and the cocoa flavor is perfect! My family loved it and I will definitely be making it again! I can’t wait to try your other dessert recipes 🍰
Hi. Can you substitute Apple Cider Vinegar for White Vinegar?
Sure can Anna! N x
Hi have made your beautiful red velvet cake and was loved so much my daughter has requested it for her engagement party. My question is how many days before could I make it to keep it fresh and best way of storing it?
You can make the cake in advance even by a couple of weeks and store it in the freezer until you’re ready to frost it!